Apparatus for retaining cargo in cargo carrying airplanes are well known in the art. Currently, the apparatus utilized in almost all cargo carrying airplanes consists of a cargo barrier net. These cargo nets are installed just forward of the cargo to protect the aircraft crew from being crushed by the cargo in the event of a crash. Because the net is flexible and will stretch if subjected to force from cargo crashing against it, an area--typically about sixty (60) inches--forward of net must be left empty (net stretch space). This net stretch space cannot be used for crew, passengers, or equipment because they would be hit by cargo crashing into and stretching the net.
More recently, rigid or solid cargo barriers have been developed and installed. These rigid cargo barriers have consisted of a structural bulkhead forward of the cargo, instead of the flexible net. Like the prior cargo nets, the cargo barrier is attached to the floor and the fuselage shell of the aircraft. The rigid cargo barrier significantly reduces the deflection experienced during an accident, allowing the previously wasted net stretch space to be used. The rigid barriers, however, require large complex and expensive support or restraint systems to support the rigid barrier on the aircraft floor and fuselage.
For example, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) requires that cargo barriers, whether a cargo net or a rigid barrier, be designed to withstand the total weight of the aircraft's cargo multiplied by nine times the force of gravity (9 g's). Thus, the attachments between the net or barrier and the aircraft floor and fuselage shell must be capable of distributing this huge load into the aircraft's basic structure. Existing rigid cargo barrier installations require complex systems of tension rods and/or straps extending back into the cargo compartment, in the same manner that current cargo barrier nets are installed.